Throwback Thursday - Richard Grieco as Marker

Just in time for another Throwback Thursday, I got my hands on a copy of Richard's 1995 television series, Marker.

If you were a fan of Dennis Booker, you're probably going to want to seek this one out. Richard's character in Marker is the same type of smart-assed, reluctant hero as we saw in 21 Jump Street and Booker.

The premise of the show is that Richard's character (also named Richard) is estranged from his billionaire father and working in construction far from his native Hawaii. When he returns to the island for his father's funeral, Richard learns that he's inherited property and a mission: his father has asked that he take on responsibility for markers he's distributed to a number of people.

As he helps people from all walks of life to whom his father had in some way been indebted, Richard learns that there was far more to the man than he realized.

Some things never change. The
credits end at 4:00, and within 45 seconds
Richard is stripping down in the limo.

Like Richard's best-known character, the lead in Marker is witty, irreverent, good-hearted and prone to getting  in over his head in the name of justice or saving the girl (or child, or old man, or family business, or...)

He's also prone to whipping his shirt off at a second's notice, and with very little provocation. Just in case you're into that kind of thing. This is made easy and plausible by the fact that he's living on an island, approximately 50 feet from the ocean.

We see a hint of the college
football player Richard once was
in this series.

You know that (in my view, at least), Richard's film work covers a very broad spectrum--some I've watched more than once, one or two I've turned off before reaching the end or gone on about my business while letting them play in the background. This one is worth a watch for any Grieco fan, or anyone who was a fan of the 90s-era series like Silk Stalkings and High Tide. I'm a little surprised that it didn't last longer.

Marker on DVD

Sorry if I got your hopes up.  Marker isn't available on DVD, at least not that I've been able to find.  But I've always wanted to see the series (well, you know, ever since I learned that Richard Grieco existed back in late 2012) and all the more so since I learned today that Richard actually sang on the show.

Here's a YouTube clip of the final episode, in which he performs "Please Let it Rain."  But, you know, I want more.  I can't be alone in this.  I'm starting a forum thread about getting this series released on DVD--if you'd like to see it, pop over there and add your voice.

In the meantime, here's the clip where Richard performs with a bar band in the final episode. Interestingly, this was posted not by one of the usual fans who provides us with old TV clips but by a local who had the opportunity to hang out with Richard on the day of filming.

Buyer Beware

Is it just me, or do these two "hand signed" photos from the Marker era look an awful lot alike?

Sure, they could have signed a whole batch at once, but...ever seen that done? I have, and usually the person doing the signing isn't so careful that each signature is not only identical, but ends up in EXACTLY the same spot on the photograph and at exactly the same angle. 

I'm not saying either of these sellers is trying to put something over on buyers--one of these photos may well be the original.  Or not.  It's tough to tell from an online image, and possibly even in hard copy.  But it's worth noting that there are a lot of autographed items out there that...aren't.